Easily cleaned bagel-forming machine

ABSTRACT

An easily cleaned toroid forming apparatus has an improved frame assembly with a first frame sub-assembly receiving a second frame sub-assembly to position the dough batch feeding, forming, guiding and cutoff means of the second sub-assembly to deliver dough parts to the toroid forming means of the first subassembly. Each of the sub-assemblies has supporting structure to which sub-structure is movably mounted for movement between a closed operable position and an open cleaning position to provide access to the individual parts of the feeding, forming, guiding, cutoff and toroid forming means. The apparatus has a circular knife on a forming roller for dividing a wide ribbon of dough into two narrow ribbons of dough conveyed by a removable divergent path double conveyor to double bank cut-off, transfer and toroid forming means.

United States Patent Thompson Feb. 19, 1974 [54] EASILY CLEANEDBAGEL-FORMING 1,678,747 7/192-8 Scholz 425/62 X R25,536 3/1964 Thompson425/364 MACHINE [75] Inventor: Daniel T. Thompson, Los Angeles,

Calif.

[73] Assignee: Thompson Bagel Machine Manufacturing Corporation, LosAngeles, Calif.

[22] Filed: Oct. 4, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 186,205

[52] US. Cl. 425/296, 425/364 B, 425/194 [51] Int. Cl. A21c 11/00 [58]Field of Search... 425/296, 301, 335, 363, 364, 425/188, 193, 194, 62

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,433,182 3/1969 Thompson425/319 X 2,666,399 l/1954 Pereyra 425/194 2,746,401 5/1956 Archer425/364 3,379,142 4/1968 Reiter et al.... 425/357 X 1,552,430 9/1925Gendler 425/364 2,277,313 3/1942 Fowler 425/194 Primary ExamineF-RobertD. Baldwin Assistant ExaminerDavid S. Safran [57] ABSTRACT dough batchfeeding, forming, guiding and cutoff means of the second sub-assembly todeliver dough parts to the toroid forming means of the firstsubassembly. Each of the sub-assemblies has supporting structure towhich sub-structure is movably mounted for movement between a closedoperable position and an open cleaning position to provide access to theindividual parts of the feeding, forming, guiding, cutoff and toroidforming means. The apparatus has a circular knife on a forming rollerfor dividing a wide ribbon of dough into two narrow ribbons of doughconveyed by a removable divergent path double conveyor to double bankcut-off, transfer and toroid forming means.

3 Claims, 15 Drawing Figures EASILY CLEANED BAGEL-FORMING MACHINEBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates in general to anapparatus for forming a plurality of toroids in rapid succession. Moreparticularly, this invention relates to a separable frame for suchapparatus which provides access to the individual parts thereof tofacilitate easy cleaning.

In a bagel forming machine such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,433,182, theparts thereof that contact the dough in the process of forming a bagelfrom a batch of dough, must be periodically cleaned to maintain thesanitary conditions required for food processing. The cleaning of suchmachine is done by hand methods using soap, water, brushes and sometimessteam cleaning apparatus. The hand cleaning usually involves extendingbrushes into the machine through a gap between the internal parts andmanually moving the brushes against the parts to remove all of the doughthereon in the vicinity of the brush. The brush is then removed andinserted into another gap between the parts of the machine to repeat theprocess.

The hand method of cleaning is suitable for the exterior parts of thetoroid forming machine which are readily accessible even though themachine is assembled, but leaves much to be desired with the manyinternal parts. In such machines, there are many parts or areas of partswhich because of their closeness to adjacent parts cannot be reached bythe brushes, or if they can be reached by the brushes, the brushes donot do a satisfactory job of cleaning. An example of the former is themandrel located in the lower half of the machine about which the toroidsare formed by the closing of sleeves as they are moved along themandrel. An example of the latter is the sets of rollers which form thebatch of dough into a wide ribbon of dough, because bits of dough dropinto the space between the ends of the rollers and the supporting framecarrying the rollers, where the brush bristles cannot reach.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore it is the primary object of thisinvention to provide an easily cleaned toroid forming apparatus.

Other and additional objects of this invention are to provide such anapparatus in which the parts thereof that contact the dough are easilycleaned, to provide such an apparatus in which the parts thereof thatcontact the dough are selectively separable along the path of the doughfor easy access thereto, to provide such an apparatus which requiresless down time for cleaning, to provide such an apparatus which is lessexpensive to manufacture yet produces as many completed toroids as twoprior art machines, to provide such an apparatus which quickly,sanitarily and economically produces completed toroids.

Generally, the improved toroid forming machine according to thisinvention includes dough batch feeding, forming, guiding, and cutoffmeans for delivering dough parts to a toroid forming means providedtherewith, with the improvement-including a first frame subassemblymeans for mounting the toroid forming means; a second frame sub-assemblymeans for mounting the dough batch feeding, forming, guiding and cutoffmeans; and guide. means on the sub-assembly means for guiding thembetween an operative joined position and a separated cleaning position.Synchronized motion transmitting means may be provided on the framesub-assemblies to transmit synchronized motion therebetween when theassemblies are in the operative joined position. The sub-assemblies mayeach include supporting structure movably mounting sub-structure withsome of the parts of the dough batch feeding, forming and guiding meansas well as the toroid forming means being mounted to the sub-structureand the rest of the parts of each means being mounted to the supportingstructure to permit the sub-structure to be separated from thesupporting structure to separate the parts for cleaning. Locking meansmay be provided for locking the first and second frame sub-assembliestogether and/or for locking the support and sub-structure together. Holdopen means may be provided for the sub-structure to hold it in the openposition relative the supporting structure. The dough forming means mayinclude a dough divider means providing a plurality of ribbons of dough,and divergent conveyor means for conveying the plurality of ribbons ofdough along divergent paths to the cutoff means to be delivered to aplurality of banks of toroid forming means.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description taken in conjunction with the appendeddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view ofatoroid formed by the apparatus with the improvements according to thisinvention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the apparatus with the framesub-assemblies thereof shown in the operative joined position, and thesub-structures thereof shown in the closed operable position;

FIG. 3 is a top elevational view taken along the plane IIIIII of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view taken along the plane IVIV of FIG.3 showing the second frame subassembly and the dough batch feeding,forming, guiding and cutoff means thereof with the major portion of thefirst frame sub-assembly and toroid forming means thereof shown inphantom lines;

FIG. 5 is a top cross-sectional view taken along the plane V-V of FIG. 2showing the second frame subassembly and the toroid forming meansthereof;

FIG. 6 is a perspective schematic view of the dough as it is transformedfrom a batch stage to ribbons, to

strips and then to toroids, with some of the parts used in the formationbeing shown for clarity.

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of a portion of FIG. 2 with theguiding means sub-structure shown pivoted on its supporting structure tothe open cleaning position;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of a portion of FIG. 2 with thelocking means of the dough forming means shown in the open position;

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of a portion of FIG. 2 with a firstframe sub-assembly shown in the separated position, with thesub-structure and the mandrel means mounted thereon shown pivoted on thesupporting structure to the open cleaning position where it ismaintained by the hold open means;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along the plane X-X of FIG. 4showing the inner parallel plates of the dough batch forming meansagainst the roller ends in the closed operative position, and of thelocking means therefor in the closed position;

FIG. 13 is a side view of a portion of FIG. 6 showing I the stripreceiving end carrier means;

FIG. 14 is a top view of a portion of FIG. 6 showing the strip receivingand carrier means; and

FIG. 15 is an end crosssectional view taken along the plane XV-XV ofFIG. showing the details of the sleeve assembly means and the openingand closing means therefor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to thedrawings and particularly to FIG. 2, an assembled toroid formingapparatus is generally indicated by the numeral 10. The toroid formingapparatus 10 generally includes a composite frame 19 of a first framesub-assembly 20 in which is received a second frame sub-assembly 30.Frame 30, as best seen in FIG. 4, mounts dough batch feeding means 70,dough batch forming means 80, divider means 135, divergent transfermeans 140, dough batch guiding means 170, cutoff means 220, stripreceiving and carrier means 250, strip seating means 260. The first orouter frame 20 mounts toroid forming means 270 and toroid dischargemeans 350, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 6, which cooperate with the previouslynoted means to transform a batch of dough into finished toroids. Thedough batch feeding, forming, guiding and cutoff means and the toroidforming and discharge means of apparatus 10 function essentially asdescribed in United States Letters Patent No. 3,433,182. Reference maybe made to this patent for the operation of these means, per se, apartfrom the improvements therein disclosed herein.

Referring now to FIG. 6, the majority of the parts of the toroid formingapparatus 10 have been removed to schematically show the sequence ofoperations of the apparatus 10 on a dough batch. Initially, an elongatedbatch of dough is received and formed into a wide ribbon of dough 11which is divided into two ribbons l2 and 13. The two ribbons l2 and 13pass around rollers 176 where strips of dough 14 and 15 are cuttherefrom. The strips 14 and 15 are initially flat but are formed firstinto a U-shaped strip 16 and then squeezed into a partially closedtoroid 17 which is eventually closed, forming a completed toroid 18 tobe carried from the apparatus 10. The shape of the completed toroid 18produced by the apparatus 10 is best seen in FIG. 1.

The improvements according to this invention in the toroid formingapparatus include the splitting of the frame 19 into a first framesub-assembly 20 and a second frame sub-assembly 30, which may bedisplaced from each other to facilitate cleaning and which may bebrought together in an operatively joined position, forming a compositeframe 19.

The first frame sub-assembly 20 as best seen in FIG. 2 is the lower ofthe frame sub-assemblies and includes corner post members 21 betweenwhich longitudinal members 22 and lateral members 23 extend with asufficient number of vertical leg members 24 between the members 22 andthe members 23 to provide a rigid structure. The members are preferablymade of square cross-section steel tubing. The first frame sub-assemblyhas centrally located of the lowermost longitudinal members 22, casterassemblies 25 having rollers 26 for rolling along the floor. The firstframe sub-assembly also includes a pivoted support arm 27 which pivotson pin 28 and rests against stop 29.

The second frame sub-assembly 30 also includes corner post members 31between which longitudinal members 32 and lateral members 33 extend witha sufficient number of vertical leg members 34 between the members toprovide a rigid structure. These members are also preferably made ofsquare cross-section steel tubing. The second frame sub-assembly hascaster assemblies 35 on the lowermost longitudinal members 32 underneaththe corner post members 31. The caster assemblies 35 have rollers 36 forrolling along the floor.

The second frame sub-assembly also includes a pair of corner plates 37over the left corner post members 31 with flanged vertical members 38extending vertically upwardly therefrom for a purpose which will appearlater. Immediately to the right of the plates 37 are parallellongitudinal first side plates 39 extending upwardly from the uppermostlongitudinal members 32. The first side plates 39, each haveriglitwardly extending arm 40 welded thereto. The arms 40 are eachprovided with a slotted right end 41 which receives the bolts through anextension 42. The arms 40 have a lower cross bar 43 thereacross as wellas an upper cross bar 44 therebetween. A second pair of parallellongitudinal side plates 45 are welded to the upper cross bar with theleft ends of the second side plates 45 located within and spaced fromthe side plates 39.

The left end of the first frame sub-assembly 20 is opened and thelateral members 33 of the second frame sub-assembly 30 are of a lengthsothat the second frame sub-assembly 30 may be received within the openingin the left end of the first frame sub-assembly 20. To facilitate thereception of the second frame subassembly 30 by the first framesub-assembly 20, guide means are provided which, in the presentembodiment, comprise rollers 51 mounted on the lowermost longitudinalmembers 22 of the first frame subassembly 20 and extending between thelongitudinal members 22 and 32. The rollers 51 and the rollers 26 and 36of the caster assemblies 25 and 35 facilitate the easy movement of thefirst and second frame subassemblies 20 and 30 between a separatedcleaning position shown in FIGS. 4 and 9, and an operative joinedposition, shown in FIG. 2. In the operative joined position, the supportarms 27 of the first frame subassembly 20 pivot upwardly from the stops29 to engage the lower cross bar 43 with the upper free end thereof tohelp support the right end of the second frame sub-assembly 30.

The composite frame 19 is also provided with locking means 55 forpreventing the first and second frame subassemblies 20 and 30 frominadvertently separating during operation of the toroid formingapparatus 10. In the preferred embodiment, the locking means includes alocking arms 56 extending to the left of central vertical leg members 24of the first frame sub-assembly 20. On the left end of each of thelocking arms 56 is a bolt 57 which rotatably mounts a hasp 58 containinga bolt 59 which upon proper positioning of hasp 58, engages a centralvertical leg member 34 of the second frame sub-assembly 30 to preventthe second frame subassembly from separating from the first framesubassembly 20. The bolt 59 may be loosened and the hasp 58 rotated onthe bolt 57 from over the vertical leg member 54 to facilitate theunlocking of the frame subassemblies 20 and 30.

The composite frame 19 has synchronized motion transmitting means 60 forsynchronizing the motion of the various means on the first framesub-assembly 20 with the motion of the various means on the second framesub-assembly 30. In the preferred embodiment, the synchronized motiontransmitting means 60 includes transversely aligned, spaced bearingblocks 61 mounted on adjacent intermediate longitudinal members 22 onthe near side of sub-assembly 20. A shaft 62 extends between the blocks61 and mounts a gear 63 thereon between the blocks 61. A mating gear 64is mounted on shaft 65 extending between transversely aligned spacedbearing blocks 66 mounted on adjacent intermediate longitudinal members32 on the near side of the second frame sub-assembly 30. When the framesub-assemblies are in the operative joined position, the gear 63 mesheswith the gear 64 to provide a synchronizing connection between the twoframe subassemblies 20 and 30. Additionally, the shaft 65 includes asprocket 67 for a purpose which will appear later.

The composite frame 19 mounts all of the means of the apparatus with thedough batch feeding means 70, the dough batch forming means 80, thedivider means 135, the divergent transfer means 140, the dough batchguiding means 170, the dough batch cutoff means 220, the strip receivingand carrier means 250, and the strip seating means 260 being mounted tothe second frame sub-assembly 30 while the toroid forming means 270 andtoroid discharge means 350 are mounted on the first frame sub-assembly20. When the first and second frame sub-assemblies 20 and 30 areoperatively joined, the toroid forming means 270 is positioned toreceive the strips of dough l4 and from the carrier means 250 so thatthe strips of dough 14 and 15 may be seated therein by the strip seatingmeans 260. The meshing of gears 63 and 64 insures synchronization of themeans of the two frame sub-assemblies and 30 in the operative joinedposition.

Each of the two frame sub-assemblies 20 and 30 which individually mountthe various means of the apparatus 10, are provided with supportingstructure to which sub-structures are movably mounted by movablemounting means in accordance with this invention. Each of thesub-structures either mounts some of the parts of respective means withthe rest of the parts of that means being mounted to the supportingstructure or is mounted closely to the parts of respective means. Thesub-structure is then selectively movable relative its supportingstructure between a closed operable position wherein the parts of themeans are operably associated and an open cleaning position whereineither the parts mounted to the sub-structures are separated from theparts mounted to the supporting structure or the sub-structure isseparated from the respective parts, in either case to provide easyaccess to the parts of the apparatus 10 for cleaning.

Referring now to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the apparatus 10 is provided withdough batch feed means 70 for receiving a somewhat elongated batch ofdough and delivering it to the dough forming means 80. In the exemplaryembodiment, the dough batch feed means includes a conveyor assembly 71with parallel sidewalls 72 between which shafts 73 are rotatably mountedadjacent the ends thereof to mount sheaves 74. If so desired, thesidewalls 72 may have an inner liner of plastic which permits the doughcarried thereby to slide easily along the walls 72. A conveyor belt 75passes around sheaves 74 to carry the batch of dough thereon. Thesidewalls 72 are centrally mounted to the second frame subassembly 30 bythe extensions 42 having pins 76 extending into the sidewalls 72thereof. The left ends of the sidewalls 72 are mounted to the secondframe subassembly 30 by the extension of the shaft 73 beyond thesidewalls 72 and into aligned shaft bearing blocks 77 mounted on angles78 secured to the left ends of the second side plates 45. As best seenin FIG. 2, the near end of shaft 73 has a sprocket 79 for a purposewhich will appear later. The batch feed means 70 may be pivoted on theshaft 73 to accept dough at various heights and may be rotated to avertical position for storage.

The dough batch forming means 80 for receiving the batch of dough fromthe batch feeding means 70 and forming the batch of dough into the wideribbon of dough 11 is again best seen in FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 10 and 11. Inthe preferred embodiment, the supporting structure 81 of the doughforming means 80 includes the second side plates 45 of the second framesub-assembly 30. The plates 45 have a series of aligned aperturestherein for receiving shafts therein.

As best seen in FIG. 4, 10 and 11 a first lower roller 83 has an axiallygrooved surface for pulling the batch of dough from the conveyor belt75. The roller 83 has two ends 84 which are spaced from the second sideplates 45 with a shaft 85 extending through the roller 83 and outwardlyfrom the ends 84 thereof through the lower right aligned apertures inthe second side plates 45. As best seen in FIG. 2, the near end of theshaft 85 has a sprocket 86 with a chain 87 extending therefrom tosprocket 79. As best seen in FIG. 8, the far end of shaft 85 has a gear88 for a purpose which will appear later.

A first upper roller 89 is mounted over the first lower roller 83 andhas a similarly grooved surface. As seen in FIGS. 10 and 11 the firstupper roller has two ends 90 spaced from the second side plates 45 witha shaft 91 extending through the first upper roller 89 and from the ends90 through the second side plates 45. The far end of the shaft 91 has agear 92 which meshes with the gear 88 to interconnect the first upperand first lower rollers 89 and 83. The near end of shaft 91 has asprocket 93 for a purpose which will appear later.

The dough forming means 80 is provided with a second upper roller 94again having ends 95 spaced from the second side plates 45 with a shaft96 extending therethrough and through the second side plates 45. Thenear end of shaft 96 has a sprocket 97 from which a chain 98 extends tosprocket 93 to interconnect the first upper roller 89 with the secondupper roller 94. Inwardly of the sprocket 97 on the near end of theshaft 96 is a second sprocket 99 for a purpose which will appear later.On the far end of the shaft 96 is a gear 100 also for a purpose whichwill appear later.

Below the second upper roller 94 is a second lower roller 101 again withtwo ends 102 spaced from the second side plates 45 with a shaft 103extending through the roller 101 and through the second side plates 45.The far end of the shaft 103 has a gear 104 which meshes with the gear100 of the second upper roller to interconnect the upper and lowerrollers 94 and 101 together.

The dough forming means 80 also includes a third upper roller 105between and with two ends spaced from the second side plates 45. A shaft107 extends through the third upper roller 105 and from the ends 106through the second side plates 45 and also through the first side plates39. A sprocket 108 is located on the shaft 107 between the near plate ofthe second side plates 45 and the near plate of the first side plates 39with a chain 109 extending to sprocket 99 to interconnect the second andthird upper rollers 94 and 105. The near end of shaft 107 also has asprocket 110 outboard of the naer plate of the first side plates 39 fora purpose which will appear later. A gear 111 is provided on the far endof shaft 107 between the far plate of the second side plates 45 and thefar plate of first side plates 39 for a purpose which will appear later.A pulley 112 is provided on the far end of the shaft 107 also for apurpose which will appear later.

A third lower roller 113 is provided below the third upper roller 105.The third lower roller 113 has two ends spaced from the second sideplates 45 with a shaft 115 through the lower roller 113 and extendingfrom the ends through the second side plates 45. A gear 116 is locatedon the far end of shaft 115 to mesh with gear 111 to interconnect thethird upper roller 105 and third lower roller 113. Thus, the first upperand lower, second upper and lower, third upper and lower rollers are allinterconnected.

Additionally, small intermediate rollers 117 are provided in pairsbetween the first and second lower rollers 83 and 101 and between thesecond and third lower rollers 101 and 113, to convey the wide ribbon ofdough l1 therebetween.

The dough forming means 80 is provided with substructure means 120 toselectively provide access to the parts of the dough forming means 80for cleaning thereof. In the preferred embodiment, as best seen in FIGS.and 11, the sub-structure means includes inner parallel plates 121having aligned apertures through which the shafts 85, 91, 96, 103, 107and 115 pass to slidably mount the inner parallel plates 121 be tweenthe second side plates 45 and the roller ends 84, 90, 95, 102, 106 and114. As seen by comparing the FIGS. 10 and 11, the inner parallel plates121 are slidably movable between an inner closed operating positionadjacent the ends of the rollers, and an open cleaning position spacedfrom the ends of the rollers and adjacent the second side plates 45 toprovide easy access to the ends of the rollers to clean out bits ofdough that may stick thereto during operation of the apparatus 10.

The sub-structure means 120 also includes locking means 125 for holdingthe inner parallel plates 121 in the closed operating position. In thepreferred embodiment, and as seen in FIGS. 3, 8 and 11, the lockingmeans 125 includes a spaced pair of longitudinal arms 126 interconnectedby a transverse tie member 127 and pivoted at 128 to the right uppercorners of the second side plates 45. As best seen in FIG. 8, each ofthe longitudinal arms 126 has two depending fingers 129 which in aholding position extend between the adjacent sides of the inner parallelplates 121 and the second side plates 45 to hold the inner parallelplates 121 against the ends of the rollers. The longitudinal arms 126are pivoted at 128 to raise the fingers 129 from between the adjacentsides of the inner parallel plates 121 and the second side plates 45 toan open raised or unlocked position. In the unlocked position of thearms 126, the inner parallel plates 121 may be slid on the shafts to anopen cleaning position, providing access to the ends of the rollers forcleaning.

When the inner parallel plates 126 are in the closed operative positionand held there by the fingers 129, the elongated batch of dough on theleft end of the conveyor belt is pulled therefrom by the grooved surfaceof the first upper and lower rollers 89 and 83, rotating oppositely tofeed the elongated batch of dough along the intermediate small rollers117 between the second upper and lower rollers 94 and 101 where thedough is further formed into a wide ribbon of dough 11. The wide ribbonof dough 11 from the second upper and lower rollers 94 and 101 passesalong the intermediate small rollers 117 to the third upper and lowerrollers and 113.

The toroid forming apparatus 10 is also provided with divider means fordividing the wide ribbon of dough 11 into two narrow ribbons 12 and 13of dough. In the preferred embodiment, the divider means 135 is acircular knife 136 centrally located on the third upper roller 105 andextending to the surface of the third lower roller 113 to divide thewide ribbon of dough 11 into two narrow ribbons of dough 12 and 13 as itpasses between the third upper roller 105 and the third lower roller113.

Divergent dough transfer means 140 is provided for the toroid formingapparatus 10 for receiving the narrow ribbons of dough 12 and 13 andseparating them from each other. The supporting structure means 141 forthe divergent transfer means 140 in the preferred embodiment are thefirst side plates 39. The far side plate 39 has an aperture 142therethrough through which a shaft 143 extends. On the far end of shaft143 is a pulley 144 with a V-belt 145 therearound extending to pulley112 to drivingly connect the shaft 143 with the shaft 107 of the thirdupper roller 105 for a purpose which will appear later. On the near endof shaft 143 between the first side plates 39 is a bevel tooth gear 146.The supporting structure means 141 also includes a notch 147 in theupper surface and centrally located in each of the first side plates 39for a purpose which will appear later.

The divergent dough transfer means 140 also has sub-structure means 150which is best illustrated in FIG. 12. (FIG. 12 has been reversed fromits position in FIGS. 2 and 3 for clarity of illustration. However, forthe sake of uniformity the use of the terms near and far will be appliedto the sub-structure 150 as it is mounted in the apparatus 10 and theseterms will be reversed when applied to FIG. 12.) The sub-structure means150 includes diverging side edge members 151, each having verticalinverted L-flange 152 with a vertical leg 153 extending upwardlytherefrom and with the upper leg 154 thereof outturned for beingreceived in the notch 147. The far flange 152 is provided with a gearcover 155 for a purpose which will appear later. A cross member 156interconnects the side edge members 151 and mounts central divergingedge members 157, each parallel to an associated side edge member 151.

Fore and aft shafts 158 and 159 extend between associated side andcentral edge members 151 and 157 with sheaves 160 therearound formounting diverging conve'yor belts 161. On the far end of the far aftshaft 159 (shown in FIG. 12 in the lower left corner because FIG. 12 isreversed) is a bevel tooth gear 162 which meshes with bevel tooth gear146 to drive the far conveyor belt 161 while a flexible coupling 163between the near and far aft shafts 159 drivingly connects the near aftshaft 159 and the near conveyor belt 161 to the gear 162. The gear cover155 covers gears 162 and 146 to deflect any dough, that might droptoward these gears, away therefrom to keep the gears freely meshing. Thecross member 156 has two inverted L-shaped roller mounts 164 extendingupwardly therefrom adjacent the central edge members 157 with theoutturned legs thereof mounting vertical rollers 165 which faceoutwardly.

When the sub-structure means 150 is separated from the supportingstructure 141, the conveyor belts 161, rollers 164 and related partsthereto can be easily cleaned. The sub-structure means 150 is receivedbetween the first side plates 39 with the outturned upper legs 154 ofthe inverted Lflanges 152 received in the notches 147 to locate thediverging conveyor belts 161 with the adjacently spaced ends thereofadjacent the third lower roller 113 for receiving the ribbons of dough13 therefrom. The ribbons of dough 12 and 13 pass from the third lowerroller 13 onto the adjacently spaced ends of the conveyor belts 161until the ribbons l2 and 13 engage the vertical rollers 164 and areturned thereby longitudinally of the conveyor belts 161 to bedivergently carried thereby to the dough batch guiding means 170.

Hereafter in the description of the apparatus 10, the means discussedwill have provision made for receiving two separated units of dougheither by providing extra wide parts to accommodate the dual units or byproviding two identical banks of parts to receive and operate upon theseparated dual units. Mnay times the dual nature of the parts will notbe discussed for simplicity of description but such a dual nature shouldbe remembered where appropriate even though not repeatedly referred to.

The dough batch guiding means 170 for guiding the ribbons of dough 13 tothe cutoff means 220 is best seen in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4. The dough batchguiding means 170 includes supporting structure which, in the preferredembodiment, are the first side plates 39 with a plurality of shaftreceiving apertures therethrough. A first lower guide roller 172 extendsbetween the side plates 39 with a shaft 173 therethrough. The near endof shaft 173 has a gear 174 located outboard yet adjacent the near firstside plate 39 and a sprocket 175 on the near end of the shaft 173outboard of the gear 174.

A second lower guide roller 176 is provided between the first sideplates 39 with a shaft 177 therethrough. In the preferred embodiment,the second lower guide roller 176 is actually two aligned rollers wihsides for limiting spread of the ribbons of dough l2 and 13 for apurpose which will appear later. A gear 178 is located on the near endof shaft 177 outboard yet adjacent the near first side plate 39 and asprocket 179 is located on the near end of shaft 177 outboard of thegear 178. The sprocket 179 has a chain 180 therearound which extends tosprocket 175 to interconnect the first and second lower rollers 172 and176.

On the far end of the shaft 177 is a one way ratchet 181 with a collar182 covering the far end thereof. The collar 182 has an arm 183 with aroller 184 on the left end and a tab 185 on the right end. A spring 186extends from the tab 185 on the arm 183 to a seat 187 extending from thefar first side plate 39 to limit the rotational movement of the arm 183and therefore the collar 182 to an arc relative shaft 177. The ratchet181 turns the limited arcuate motion of the collar 18] into intermittentrotation of the shaft 177 for a purpose which will appear later. Theintermittent rotation of shaft 177 is transmitted via the various chainsand gears already described to the rest of the dough batch guiding means170, the divergent dough transfer means 140, the divider means 135, thedough batch forming means and the dough batch feeding means 70.

The dough batch guide means has a substructure 190 including upperparallel plates 191 located above and spaced similarly to first sideplates 39. The upper parallel plates 191 are pivoted at 192 to shaft 107and have inner reinforcing plates 193 extending to the left from shaft107 to terminate after mounting the first of a pair of cross braces 194between the upper parallel plates 19]. The upper parallel plates 191have a series of aligned apertures therethrough.

A first upper guide roller 195 extends between the upper parallel plates191 with a shaft 196 therethrough and through the upper right alignedapertures of the parallel plates 191. The near end of the shaft 196,outboard yet adjacent the near parallel plates 191, has a gear 197thereon which meshes with gear 174 to interconnect the first upper andlower guide rollers 172 and 195. The near end of shaft 196 outboard ofthe gear 197 has a sprocket 198 with a chain 199 therearound to sprocket110 for interconnecting the third upper roller 105 with the first upperguide roller 195.

A second upper guide roller 200 is provided between the upper parallelplates 191 on the left of the first upper guide roller 195. The secondupper guide roller 200 has a shaft 201 therethrough and through alignedapertures in the parallel plates 191. The near end'of the shaft 201 hasa gear 202 thereon outboard yet adjacent the near upper plate 191 whichmeshes with the gear 178 to interconnect the second upper guide roller200 with the second lower guide roller 176. The near end of shaft 201outboard of the gear 202 has a sprocket 203 for a purpose which willappear later.

A downturning guide roller 204 is provided between the upper parallelplates 191 generally midway between the second upper guide roller 200and second lower guide rollers 176 and slightly to the left thereof forturning the ribbons of dough 12 and 13 from therebetween, downwardlytoward the cutoff means 220. The downturning guide roller 204 has ashaft 205 therethrough and through the upper parallel plates 191 with asprocket 206 on the near end thereof with a chain 207 around thesprocket 206 and around sprocket 203 to interconnect the downturningguide roller 204 with the second upper roller 200.

As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the dough batch guiding means alsoincludes two pairs of internal guide plates 208 forming two ribbonreceiving channels. Each of the internal guide plates 208 has acentrally located upstanding post 209 attached in suitable spacedrelationship along and to a cross shaft 210 centrally located betweenthe first and second upper guide rollers 195 and 200. The internalguides 208 have circular notches 211 cut in the lower surface thereofadjacent either end.

The upper parallel plates 191 of the sub-structure 190 as best seen inFIG. 7 pivot at 192 to an open cleaning position, separating the lowerrollers 172 and 176 from the upper rollers 195, 200 and the downturningroller 204 for cleaning. The internal guides 208 also are separated bythe pivoting of the upper parallel plates 191 from the lower rollers 172and 176 and can be pivoted on the cross shaft 210 slightly, to cleanbetween the guides 208 and theupper rollers 195 and 200.

The pivoting of the sub-structure 190 to the open cleaning position alsopermits the removal of the substructure means 150 of the divergenttransfer means 140.

When the sub-structure means 150 including the conveyor belts 161 of thedivergent transfer means 140 is positioned between the first side plates39 with the outturned upper legs 154 of flanges 152 in the notches 147,the sub-structure 189, that is the upper parallel plates 191, may pivotfrom the open cleaning position shown in FIG. 7 to the closed positionshown in FIGS. 2 and 4. In the closed position, the bottom edge of theupper parallel plates 191 engage the outturned upper legs 154 of theflanges 152 in the notches 147 to hold the sub-structure means-150 andtherefore the divergent transfer means 140 in position. Additionally,the pivoting of the sub-structure 190 to the closed operable positionmeshes the gears 174 and 178 with the gears 197 and 202 and locates theupper guide rollers 195 and 200 in operable relationship over theassociated lower guide rollers 172 and 176.

A locking means 215 is provided for selectively locking thesub-structure 190 in the closed operating position. In the preferredembodiment, the locking means includes hasps 216 pivotally mountedadjacent the left ends of the first side plates 39. Each hasp 216 has abolt 217 which when the hasp 216 is pivoted to the upright positionextends over an associated rearwardly extending shoulder 218 from thelower left edge of the upper parallel plates 191. The bolts 217 engagethe shoulders 218 to hold the upper parallel plates 191 in the closedoperable position.

In the closed operable position, the dough batch guiding means 170receives the narrow ribbons of dough 12 and 13 from the divergenttransfer means 140 between the first upper and lower guide rollers 195and 172. The narrow ribbons of dough 12 and 13 are moved thereby betweenthe pairs ofinternal guides 208 to the second upper and lower guiderollers 200 and 176. From between the second upper and lower guiderollers 200 and 176, the narrow ribbons of dough 12 and 13 pass againstthe downturning roller 204 to be turned downwardly between thedownturning roller 204 and the second lower guide roller 176 to passtowards to cutoff means 220.

The apparatus is provided with two strip cutoff means 220 for cuttingsuccessive transverse strips 14 and 15 from the ends of ribbons 12 and13. Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 4 each cutoff means 220 in theexemplary embodiment has supporting structure means 221 including thecorner plates 37 and the flanged ver tical members 38 of the secondframe sub-assembly 30. Spaced bearing blocks 222 are mounted near theupper end on the right hand side of the flanged vertical members 38. Ashaft 223 extends between the blocks 222. Between the flanged verticalmembers 38 on the shaft 223 are mounted a pair of suitably spaced pushpull cams 224 having opposed tabs 225 protruding therefrom for a purposewhich will appear later. On the far end of shaft 223 is a sprocket 226for a purpose which will appear later, and outboard of the sprocket 226on the far end of shaft 223 is a collar 227. The collar 227 hasoppositely extending arms 228 which, when the collar 227 is rotated,strike the roller 183 on the arm 182 to pivot the arm 182 in response torotation of shaft 223 and to provide synchronized intermittent motion tothe dough batch guiding means 170 divergent dough transfer means 140,the dough forming means and the batch feeding means 70. On the near endof shaft 223 is a sprocket 229 for a purpose which will appear later.

A pair of aligned spaced bearing blocks 230 are mounted on the adjacentnear upper longitudinal members 32 adjacent the upper left corner of thesecond frame sub-assembly 30. A shaft 231 extends between the blocks230. A sprocket 232 is mounted about the shaft 231 adjacent the nearblock 230 and has a chain 233 therearound to sprocket 229. A gear 234 ismounted on the shaft 231 adjacent the sprocket 232 and meshes with gear64.

The sub-structure means 235 of the cutoff means 220 includes the upperparallel side plates 191. Cutoff blades 236 have vertical arms 237extending upwardly therefrom to pivot at 238 to the upper parallel sideplates 191. The cutoff blades 236, each has an extension 239 extendingrearwardly therefrom to mount roller 240 which rides in a respectivepush pull cam 224 to move the blades 236 both against and away from thesecond lower guide rollers 176 at intervals to cut strips of dough 13and 14. The blades 236 fit between the sidewalls of the second lowerguide rollers to reach the surface thereof and the sidewalls prevent theribbons 12 and 13 from spreading while being cut.

The cutoff means 220 also includes separator means 241. In the preferredembodiment, the separator means includes separator blades 242 below thecutoff blade 236 and pivoted by shaft 243 to the lower end of thevertical arms 237. The separator blades 242 have springs 244 whichnormally bias the separator blades 242 against the cutoff blades 236.The rear ends of the blades 242, each has a roller 245 which is engagedby the tabs 225 of the cams 224 to pivot the separator blades 242 on theshaft 243 downwardly away from the cutoff blades 236 at the appropriatetime to separate the strips of dough 14 and 15 from the ribbons of dough12 and 13 after the strips 14 and 15 have been cut therefrom by thecutoff blade 236. The separated strips 14 and 15 from the separatormeans 241 fall onto the strip receiving and carrier means 250.

The apparatus 10 is provided with two strip receiving and carrier means250 for transferring the cut-off strips 14 and 15 from the cutoff means220 to the toroid forming means 270. In the preferred embodiment, eachstrip receiving and carrier means 250 includes a sheave 251, which asbest seen in FIGS. 4, 13, and 14, has four sets of radially equallyspaced L-arms 252 each. The arms 252 extend radially from the sheaves251 to receive thereon individual strips 14 and 15. The sheaves 251 aremounted on a shaft 253 which extends between the first side plates 39.On the far end of the shaft 253 is a sprocket 254 with a chain 255therearound and around sprocket 229 to connect the sheaves 251 to theshaft 223. The strip receiving and carrier means 250 also includesslotted blocks 256, as best seen in FIG. 14, having slots 257 throughwhich the arms 252 pass permitting the block fingers 258 to slide theindividual strips 14 and 15 carried on the arms 252 therefrom and intothe toroid forming means 270.

Strip seating means 260 are provided for the purpose of seating thestrips of dough l4 and 15 in the toroid forming means 270. The stripseating means 260, as best seen in FIG. 2, includes a pair of discs 261mounted on a shaft 252 extending between the first side plates 39. Thenear end of shaft 262 has a sprocket 263 with a chain 264 therearound tosprocket 67 which rotates the discs 361.

Double bank toroid forming means 270 are provided to receive the twoseries of cutoff strips of dough 14 and 15 from the two carrier means250 and for forming such strips into toroids 18 to be discharged at andcarried away by the toroid discharge means 350. Referring particularlyto FIGS. 2, 5, 6 and 9, each bank of the exemplary toroid forming means270 includes the provision of a stationary mandrel means 290, aplurality of forming sleeve assemblies 300, means moving said sleeveassemblies past said mandrel means 310 and means 330 opening and closingthe sleeve assemblies.

The support structure means 271 of the toroid forming means 270 includesthe first frame sub-assembly 20. The sub-structure means 272 of thetoroid forming means includes two parallel longitudinal bars 273 havinga transverse cross bar 274 secured thereto midway of the ends of thebars 273. The means 275 mounting the sub-structure 272 to the supportingstructure 271 includes a pair of spaced vertical yokes 276 mounted onthe right hand end of the first sub-assembly on the upper lateral member23. The yokes 276 received the right ends of the longitudinal bars 273with a pivot rod 277 extending therethrough to pivotally mount thelongitudinal bars 273 to the supporting structure means 271.

Locking means 278 is provided for selectively locking the sub-structure272 of the bars 273 and cross bar 274 to the supporting structure 271.In the preferred embodiment, the exemplary locking means are bolts 279at the ends of the cross bar 274 which thread into the near and far sideupper longitudinal members 22.

Hold open means 280 is provided for maintaining the longitudinal bars273 pivoted to the raised open cleaning position as shown in FIG. 9. Thehold open means 280 includes two central arms 281 pivoted at 282 to thecentral upper longitudinal members 22 of the first frame sub-assemblyand pivoted to the cross bar 274 at 283. The two central arms 281 arepivoted together at 284 with a sleeve 285 around the arms 281 to slideover the pivot 274 and rigidly lock the arms 271 together.

Mandrel means 290 is provided as part of the toroid forming means 270for providing uniformity to the center opening of the completed toroid18. Each mandrel means 290 of the toroid forming means 260 has a taperednose 291 from which a vertical flange 292 extends upwardly and is joinedto a hollow open ended block 293 in which is received the left end ofone of the longitudinal bars 273. The hollow block 293 is provided withbolts 294 which engage the left end of the respective longitudinal bar273 to selectively hold the mandrel means 290 thereto. To the right ofthe tapered nose is a body 295 of a diameter equal to the internaldiameter of the toroid 18 which terminates in a tapered rear 296 ofgradually decreasing diameter.

The sleeve assembly means 300 of the toroid forming means 290 as bestseen in FIG. 15 includes a plurality of longitudinally aligned channelbodies 301. Each channel body 301 has a base 302 and a pair of opposedsidewalls 303 pivoted thereto by pivot pins 304. To-

gether the base 302 and sidewalls 303 in the closed 90- sition form acylinder with an inside diameter equal to the outside diameter of thetoroid 18. Additionally, each sidewall 203 has wings 305 extendingradially upwardly therefrom in the closed position. The wings 305 ofopposite sidewalls 303 come together in the closed position for apurpose which will appear later.

As best seen in FIG. 2, the means 310 moving said sleeve assemblies 300includes a motor 311 mounted on the lower longitudinal and lateralmembers 22 and 23 of the first frame sub-assembly 20. The motor has ashaft 312 extending from the near end thereof with a sprocket 313thereon. A chain 314 extends from sprocket 313 to around sprocket 315 onshaft 316 extending between bearing blocks 317 mounted on the rightvertical leg members 24 of the first frame subassembly 20. The shaft 316has a small sprocket 318 on the far side thereof and a pair of spacedsprockets 319 of larger diameter. Each of the spaced pair of sprockets319 has a chain 320 extending to a similar sprocket of a spaced pair ofsprockets 321 mounted on shaft 62. As seen in FIG. 15, many of the linkson chain 320 have pairs of angles 322 pivoted thereto with the upperflanges of the angles 322 being secured to the bottoms of the bases 302to mount the channel bodies 301 along the chains 320. I

The motor 311 rotates the shafts 316 and 62 via the chain 314 to movethe chains 320 and the channel bodies 301 carried thereby, past themandrel means 290 toward the right. The rotation of the motor 30 via thevarious chains, sprockets and meshing gears drives the carrier means 250and the cutoff means 220 as well as the dough batch guiding means 170,divergent dough transfer means 140, dough batch forming means 80 anddough batch feeding means when the frame subassemblies 20 and 30 areoperatively joined. The means 170, 140, and 70, are drivenintermittently and synchronously due to the provision of the arms 228,the arm 183, the collar 182 and the one-way ratchet 181 as has beenpreviously explained.

The toroid forming means 270 is provided with means 330 opening andclosing the sidewalls 303 of the channel body 301 about the mandrelmeans 290 to form the strips 14 and 15 of dough into completed toroids18. In the preferred embodiment, the means 330 includes side limit rails331 on either side of each chain 320 and generally following the shapeof the chain 320. The rails 331 are engaged by the wings 305 on theopposite sidewalls 303 to limit the pivoting of the sidewalls 303 whenthe channel bodies 301 are open.

The means 330 also includes opening guide means 332 which, as seen inFIG. 2, including L-shaped mounting arms 333 mounting opening guides334. The opening guides 334 are engaged by the wings 305 of thesidewalls 303 to pivot them to the open position as they pass aroundsprocket 322 and toward the carrier means 250.

Closing guide means 335 is provided for closing the sidewalls 303 of thechannel body 301 about the mandrel means 290. The closing guide means335 as best seen in FIG. 5 include side blocks 336 mounted to the rails331 alongside the chains 320 at the discs 261 of the strip seating means260. The side blocks 336 have sidewalls 337 facing each other with thespacing therebetween decreasing to the right. The closing guide means335 also includes yokes 338 adjacent the left ends of the longitudinalbars 273 behind the hollow block 293. The yokes 338 have extending tothe left therefrom flop limiting fingers 339. The sidewalls 337 engagethe wings 305 to guide them toward each other and close sidewalls 303.

The flop limiting fingers 339 may be engaged by the rings 305 to preventthe wings 305 and the sidewalls 303 from closing prematurely.

A closed guide 340 is provided after the closing guide means 335 formaintaining the wings 305 together, and therefore the sidewalls 303closed. In the preferred embodiment, the closed guide includes parallelbars 341 defining two channels 342 each for receiving and holding thewings 305 in the closed position. The parallel bars 342 are mounted tothe longitudinal bars 273 by cross bars 343.

The means 330 opening and closing the channel bodies 301 opens thesidewalls 303 thereof for receiving strips of dough 14 and 15 from thecarrier means 250. The strips of dough 14 and 15 are placed onrespective bases 302 and respective discs 261 of the strip seating means260 press the strips of dough 14 and 15 into their respective bases 302as the channel bodies 301 pass thereby to form the strip of dough 14 and15 into U-shaped strips 16. After the channel bodies 301 pass the discs261, they pass under the respective noses 291 of the mandrel means 290as the sidewalls 293 are cammed to pivot relative the bases 302 aroundthe mandrel means 290 to a closed position around the mandrel bodies295, first forming U-shaped strips 16 into partially roller toroids l7and then into completed toroids 18 as the closed channel body 301 passesalong the body 295 of the mandrel means 290. As the channel body 301passes the tapered rear 296 of the mandrel means 290 and the wings 305pass from the channels 342, the sidewalls 293 open and pass aroundsprocket 315 while the completed toroids 18 are delivered to the toroiddischarge means 340.

When the apparatus 10 is not being operated and the first framesub-assembly 20 has been separated from the second frame sub-assembly30, the sub-structure means 272 may be separated from the supportingstructure means 271 by releasing the locking bolts 279 on the ends ofthe cross bar 274 and raising the longitudinal bars 273. The raising ofthe bars 273 first slides the wings 305 from the channels 343 defined byclosed guide means 340 permitting the sidewalls 303 to open, and thenraises the mandrel means 290 from the opened channel bodies 301 until asshown in FIG. 9 the bars 273 reach the opened cleaning position. Thehold means 278 can be utilized to maintain the sub-structure means 272in the open cleaning position to provide access for cleaning to themandrel means 290 and the open channel bodies 301. If so desired, themandrel means 280 may be removed by loosening bolts 294 and sliding thehollow blocks 293 off of the end of the bars 273, either for cleaning orfor replacing by another mandrel means 290.

To close the sub-structure means 272, the hold open means 278 isreleased, the longitudinal bars 273 are lowered, and the locking bolts279 inserted. Upon closing, the longitudinal bars 273, the mandrel means290, the closing guide means 355 and the closed guide menas 340 areall-located-over the open channel bodies 301 and will close the nextbodies 301 as they move thereby on the chains 340.

The toroid discharge means 350 of the apparatus 10 for receiving thecompleted toroids 18 from the toroid forming means 270. ln the preferredembodiment, the toroid discharge means 350 includes a guide rod 351 foreach mandrel means 290 with an aperture 352 being provided in thetapered rear 296 and a bayonet lock 353 extending from the tapered rear296 for mounting the guide rod 351 thereto. The guide rod 351 extendsfrom the tapered rear 296 of the mandrel means 290 outwardly anddownwardly to guide the movement of each completed toroid 18.

The toroid discharge means 350 also includes a conveyor belt 355 forreceiving the completed toroids 18 and transporting them for furtherprocessing. The conveyor belt 355 runs over a sheave 356 on shaft 357extending between sidewalls 358 (the other sheave and shaft are notshown). As seen in FIGS. 2 and 5, each sidewall 358 has a pin 359,therein around which is received one end of a brace wire 360 from aneyelet 361 mounted to the right end corner post members 24 of the firstframe sub-assembly 20. A sprocket 362 is mounted on the near end ofshaft 357. The right corner post members 21 of the first framesub-assembly 20 have aligned bearing blocks 363 mounted thereon with ashaft 364 extending therebetween. The near end of shaft 364 has asprocket 365 around which a chain 366 extends to sprocket 318 and asprocket 367 next to the sprocket 365 with a chain 368 to sprocket 362to drive the conveyor belt 355. The whole conveyor assembly is pivotableon shaft 364 to accommodate different discharge heights and is pivotalto a vertical position for storage.

The guide rod 351 from the mandrel means 290 receives a completed toroidl8 thercaround. The completed toroid 18 slides down the guide rod 351and off the lower end thereof which is spaced above the upper surface ofthe conveyor belt 355. When the completed toroid 18 lands on the surfaceof the conveyor belt 355, it is carried by the conveyor belt 355 to theright for further processing.

Thus, from the foregoing detailed description of the toroid formingapparatus 10 for converting a batch of dough into a plurality ofindividual toroids 18, the improvements provided in the apparatus 10achieves the various aforementioned objects. The apparatus 10 isprovided with first and second frame sub-assemblies 20 and 30 whichseparate to facilitate cleaning and a series of supporting structuremeans and sub-structure means which are movable to an open cleaningposition to provide access to the internal parts of the apparatus 10 forcleaning.

Additionally, the apparatus 10 is provided with a divider means fordividing the wide ribbon of dough 11 into a plurality of narrow ribbons12 and 13, each of which is individually processed by the apparatus 10to form a series of completed toroids 18 by providing parallel banks ofdough batch guiding means, cutoff means, toroid forming means to delivertwice as many completed toroids 17 to the toroid discharge means 340from a single dough batch feeding and forming means than would a singlebanked toroid forming apparatus.

1 claim:

1. In an apparatus for converting a batch of dough into a plurality ofindividual toroids wherein the apparatus includes dough batch feeding,forming, guiding, and cutoff means for delivering dough parts to atoroid forming means provided therewith, said toroid forming meansincluding mandrel means, a plurality of forming sleeve assembly means,means for moving said forming sleeve assembly means along the mandrelmeans, and means for opening and closing said forming sleeve assemblymeans as they move along the mandrel means to form the toroids, theimprovement in a frame assembly mounting said means to facilitate thecleaning thereof comprising:

a first frame sub-assembly means for mounting said toroid forming means;

a second frame sub-assembly means for mounting said dough batch feeding,forming, guiding and cutoff means; and

guide means on said sub-assemblies for guiding said first and secondsub-assemblies between an operative joined position wherein said doughbatch feeding, forming, guiding and cutoff means are positioned todeliver dough parts to said toroid forming means, and a separatedposition wherein said subassemblies and associated means are displacedaway from each other to facilitate the cleaning thereof;

said first frame sub-assembly means for mounting said toroid formingmeans including:

supporting structure means for mounting the plurality of forming sleeveassembly means, the moving means, and the opening and closing means;

substructure means for mounting the mandrel means;

and I means movably mounting the substructure means to the supportingstructure means for movement between a closed operable position whereinthe forming sleeve assembly means move along the mandrel means and anopen cleaning position wherein said mandrel means is spaced from saidforming sleeve assembly means, opening of said forming sleeve assemblymeans from around the mandrel means and moving the substructure to theopen cleaning position separating the mandrel means from the formingsleeve assembly means for cleaning the mandrel means and the formingsleeve assembly means;

wherein the substructure means is pivoted to the supporting structuremeans to pivot between the two positions, and

hold open means is provided for maintaining of the substructure means inthe open cleaning position.

2. In an apparatus for converting a batch of dough into a plurality ofindividual toroids wherein the apparatus includes dough batch feeding,forming, guiding, and cutoff means for delivering dough parts to atoroid forming means provided therewith, said cutoff means including acutoff blade and cam means selectively engaging the cutoff blade forcutting strips of dough from a ribbon of dough, the improvement in aframe assembly mounting said means to facilitate the cleaning thereofcomprising:

a first frame sub-assembly means for mounting said toroid forming means;

a second frame sub-assembly means for mounting said dough batch feeding,forming, guiding and cutoff means; and

guide means on said sub-assemblies for guiding said first and secondsub-assemblies between an opera tive joined position wherein said doughbatch feeding, forming, guiding and cutoff means are positioned todeliver dough parts to said toroid forming means, and a separatedposition wherein said subassemblies and associated means are displacedaway from each other to facilitate the cleaning thereof;

said frame sub-assembly mounting said cutoff means comprising:

a supporting structure rotatably mounting the cam means,

a substructure movably mounting the cutoff blade for movement into andaway from the ribbon of dough in response to engagement thereof by thecam means to cut the strips of dough therefrom, and

means movably mounting the substructure to the supporting structure formovement between a closed operable position and an open cleaningposition separating the cutoff blade from the cam means to provideaccess to the cutoff blade.

3. The improvement as in claim 2 wherein means are provided forpivotally mounting the cutoff blade to the structure, and means areprovided for pivotally mounting the substructure to the supportingstructure to per mit the blade to be pivoted away from the substructurewhen the substructure is pivoted relative to the supporting structure tothe open cleaning position.

1. In an apparatus for converting a batch of dough into a plurality ofindividual toroids wherein the apparatus includes dough batch feeding,forming, guiding, and cutoff means for delivering dough parts to atoroid forming means provided therewith, said toroid forming meansincluding mandrel means, a plurality of forming sleeve assembly means,means for moving said forming sleeve assembly means along the mandrelmeans, and means for opening and closing said forming sleeve assemblymeans as they move along the mandrel means to form the toroids, theimprovement in a frame assembly mounting said means to facilitate thecleaning thereof comprising: a first frame sub-assembly means formounting said toroid forming means; a second frame sub-assembly meansfor mounting said dough batch feeding, forming, guiding and cutoffmeans; and guide means on said sub-assemblies for guiding said first andsecond sub-assemblies between an operative joined position wherein saiddough batch feeding, forming, guiding and cutoff means are positioned todeliver dough parts to said toroid forming means, and a separatedposition wherein said subassemblies and associated means are displacedaway from each other to facilitate the cleaning thereof; said firstframe sub-assembly means for mounting said toroid forming meansincluding: supporting structure means for mounting the plurality offorming sleeve assembly means, the moving means, and the opening andclosing means; substructure means for mounting the mandrel means; andmeans movably mounting the substructure means to the supportingstructure means for movement between a closed operable position whereinthe forming sleeve assembly means move along the mandrel means and anopen cleaning position wherein said mandrel means is spaced from saidforming sleeve assembly means, opening of said forming sleeve assemblymeans from around the mandrel means and moving the substructure to theopen cleaning position separating the mandrel means from the formingsleeve assembly means for cleaning the mandrel means and the formingsleeve assembly means; wherein the substructure means is pivoted to thesupporting structure means to pivot between the two positions, and holdopen means is provided for maintaining of the substructure means in theopen cleaning position.
 2. In an apparatus for converting a batch ofdough into a plurality of individual toroids wherein the apparatusincludes dough batch feeding, forming, guiding, and cutoff means fordelivering dough parts to a toroid forming means provided therewith,said cutoff means including a cutoff blade and cam means selectivelyengaging the cutoff blade for cutting strips of dough from a ribbon ofdough, the improvement in a frame assembly mounting said means tofacilitate the cleaning thereof comprising: a first frame sub-assemblymeans for mounting said toroid forming means; a second framesub-assembly means for mounting said dough batch feeding, forming,guiding and cutoff means; and guide means on said sub-assemblies forguiding said first and second sub-assemblies between an operative joinedposition wherein said dough batch feeding, forming, guiding and cutoffmeans are positioned to deliver dough parts to said toroid formingmeans, and a separated position wherein said sub-assemblies andassociated means are displaced away from each other to facilitate thecleaning thereof; said frame sub-assembly mounting said cutoff meanscomprising: a supporting structure rotatably mounting the cam means, asubstructure movably mounting the cutoff blade for movement into andaway from the ribbon of dough in response to engagement thereof by thecam means to cut the strips of dough therefrom, and means movablymounting the substructure to the supporting structure for movementbetween a closed operable position and an open cleaning positionseparating the cutoff blade from the cam means to provide access to thecutoff blade.
 3. The improvement as in claim 2 wherein means areprovided for pivotally mounting the cutoff blade to the structure, andmeans are provided for pivotally mounting the substructure to thesupporting structure to permit the blade to be pivoted away from thesubstructure when the substructure is pivoted relative to the supportingstructure to the open cleaning position.